Man sentenced in deadly I-70 shooting of assistant fire chief
DENVER (KDVR) — On Thursday, Jeremy Rocha, 22, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after shooting and killing a local assistant fire chief on Interstate 70.
A jury convicted Rocha of first-degree murder last week, along with second-degree murder and four counts of first-degree attempted murder.
Rocha was sentenced to serve life in prison for the first-degree murder charge, along with 48 years for his second-degree murder conviction and 192 years consecutively for the four attempted murder counts.
Street racer accused of murder testifies that I-70 shooting was self-defense
John Jaros, 37, was killed in 2022 as he drove his truck on I-70 in Aurora while his wife and three children were in the vehicle. Jaros was a firefighter from the town of Glen Haven, which is near Estes Park.
“Mr. Rocha brutally murdered John Jaros and nearly massacred an entire family,” 17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason said in a release. “This was a brutal, senseless, and unimaginable crime. John Jaros was a loving husband, father, and volunteer firefighter in his community who simply wanted to get his family to their campsite that day when he was gunned down on I-70.”
Assistant fire chief killed in I-70 shooting
Rocha testified on May 16 and said he was street racing in June 2022 when a pickup truck rammed a fellow racer and began chasing him. He said the man driving the truck pointed a gun at him.
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That’s when Rocha said he fired his 9mm Glock handgun nine times in two seconds.
Rocha told an Adams County jury he was scared for his life after a truck began chasing him and he claimed the shooting was in self-defense. Rocha testified that he did not see that Jaros’ family was with him because of the truck’s tinted windows.
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